Egg-tester.



J. CARR.

EGG TESTER.

Patented Feb. 6, 1.912.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAVH '20.,WASHINOTON. D. c.

J CARR.

EGG TESTER.

7 APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1911. 1,016,610. Patented Feb. 6, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH CARR, 0F LAMONT, OKLAHOMA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF 'IO AMOS G.POLLARD, OF LAMONT, OKLAHOMA.

EGG-TESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Feb. 6, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH CARR, citizen of the United States, residingat Lamont, in the county of Grant and State of Oklahoma, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Egg-Testers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements indevices for use in testing eggs, and the invention has for its primaryobject a simple and eflicient construction of device of this character,the parts of which may be cheaply constructed and easily assembled.

The invention also has for its object an egg tester embodying a tray,the parts of which are so constructed and arranged that the tray may beconveniently employed, not only in holding the eggs in the stand of thetester, for observation, but in the operation of transferring the eggsfrom the tester to the filler of a shipping case. And the invention alsoaims to generally improve this class of devices and to render them moreuseful and commercially desirable.

With these and other objects in view as will more fully appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions,arrangements and combinations of the parts that I shall hereinafterfully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of my improved egg tester; Fig. 2 is a topplan view thereof, partly in section; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the tray;and, Fig. 4 is a sectional view thereof with the tray in invertedposition.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a stand which may beof any desired construction and design and which is arranged to containany suitable type of light, a kerosene lamp 2 being illustrated in thepresent instance, combined with a reflector 3 of any desiredconstruction.

The stand 1 contains an upwardly facing reflector 4 of any desiredformation, designed to throw the light upwardly upon the eggs mounted ina tray 5 which is designed to be detachably supported or rested upon thetop of the stand, as clearly illustrated in the drawings. The tray 5 isconstructed of any desired number of strips 6 of wood or metal laid edgeto edge and hingedly connected together, as at 7, butt hinges beingemployed, whereby the strips will be limited in their movement in onedirection when they all lie in the same plane. The strips 6 are formedat their abutting edges with substantially semi-circular recesses 8, thepairs of registering recesses forming openings 9 into which it isintended that the eggs will be inserted, and spring clips 10 are securedto the strips 6 on opposite sides of the openings 9, the clips beingarranged in pairs as shown, and each in the present instance consistingof a single piece of spring wire embodying a bowed cross bar 10 andpreferably curved arms 10 that are inserted in the normally upper faceof the tray. If desired, the arms 10 may be formed with coils 10, inorder to increase their resiliency. The strips 6 are prevented frombreaking joint with each other, by means of stay rods 11 which arepivotally mounted at one end, as at 12, to swing laterally over thenormally lower face of the tray 5, said stay rods being held in theiroperative positions by engagement with keepers 13 secured to some of thestrips. It

will thus be understood that when the stay rods 11 are in engagementwith their keepers 13, the strips 6 will be held in rigid relation toeach other and all hinged movement will be prevented, butthat when thestay rods 11 are swung outwardly, so as to clear the edges of thestrips, the strips may have their joints broken and swing eachrelatively to the others so as to spread apart the free ends (cross bars10) of the complemental egg holding clips 10.

14 designates a curtain or hood with which the stand is equipped,whereby outside light may beexcluded and the operator view the eggs,said hood being mounted upon any suitable frame according to the tasteor judgment of the designer.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the operation of my improved egg tester will be apparent. Inthe practical use of the device, the tray is placed upon the stand 1,the electric light or the like turned on and the tray filled with eggsby having the eggs inserted down into the openings 9, being securelyheld therein'by the spring clips 10. When the eggs have been examined,the bad ones are, of course, removed and replaced by others until thetray is full of fresh eggs, whereupon the tray, with the parts heldrigid by means of the stay rods 11, may be easily removed from the stand1 and placed in inverted position over the filler of a shipping case, sothat, upon the subsequent release of the strips by swinging the saidrods 11 outwardly, the strips may have a hinged or swinging movementrelative to each other, so that the free ends of the clips 10 will bespread apart and the eggs thereby released and permitted to drop totheir place in the filler as the tray is removed from the case.

' Preferably, a tray is employed having three dozen openings therein, asthat is the size of the fillers usually used in cases, but it is to beunderstood that my invention is not limited in this regard and thatvarious changes may be made in the construction, arrangement andproportion of the parts without departing from the scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

If the stand 1 is made of wood, it should be lined with reflectingmaterial or substance, or if it is made of metal, the inner walls shouldbe highly polished, in order to increase the reflecting effect. I

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An egg tester, including a tray, provided with openings for the eggsand with clips designed to hold the eggs in said openings, the traybeing constructed in sections movably connected together, and the clipsbeing connected to the respective sections, whereby the movement of thestrips will spread the clips apart and release the eggs,

- and means for holding said strips in rigid relation to each other.

2. An egg tester, including a tray constructed of strips hingedlyconnected together, means for holding said strips in rigid relation toeach other, as against swinging movement, said means being arranged formanual release, the tray being formed with openings for the eggs, andspring clips connected to the respective strips at said openings andprojecting from one face thereof, whereby a swinging movement of thestrips relative to each other will spread apart the clips and releasethe eggs.

3. In an egg tester, a tray constructed in a plurality of stripshingedly connected together along their abutting edges, the strips beingformed at said edges with registering recesses constituting eggreceiving openings, spring clips connected to the respective strips atthe recesses thereof, and projecting from one face of the tray, theclips embodying bowed cross bars and attaching arms,

and stay rods arranged for engagement with the strips and adapted tohold the same in rigid relation with each other.

4. An egg tester, embodying a stand provided with a reflector, a trayarranged for detachable support upon the stand in operativejuxtaposition to the reflector, the tray being constructed of aplurality of hingedly connected sections and formed with egg receivingopenings, spring clips secured to the tray and projecting from one facethereof on opposite sides of said openings, the clips being connected tothe respective strips, whereby a hinge movement of the strips relativeto each other in one direction will spread apart the clips to releasethe eggs, stay rods pivotally connected to the face of the trap oppositeto the clips and arranged to swing laterally over the face of the trayto which they are connected, and keepers secured to sundry of saidstrips and designed for engagement by said stay rods.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH CARR. a 5.1

lVitnesses:

W. J. ROBINSON, E. G. PALMER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

